Stadia rod



13%- 25, 1951 R. E. MOMACKIN ETAL 2,580,117

STABIA Ron Filed Jan. 14, 194e ff f6 w gf Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED y STATES STABIA Ron Application Januaryii, 1946, serial No. 641,107

tions, when elongated or disposed in end to end l relationship are secured in such position by a spring loaded latch, automatic in its closing operation but readily released by the simple expedient of depressing a lever in close proximity to one of the rod sections. Moreover, the construction provides correlated lugs at the extremities of the sections which, upon the foldingof the sections engage one with the other to hold the sections in parallelism to obviate strain on the hinge. f

With the foregoing objects as paramount, the

Ainvention has further reference to certain features of accomplishment which will become apy parent as the description proceeds, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing where- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a stadia rod constructed according to the invention in a vertical plane, showing the sections extended but broken away at intermediate points.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view, showing the I.

sections folded and in longitudinal section.

Figure 3 is a detail view of one of the sections in transverse cross-section.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view in vertical section of one end of one of the stadia rod sections showing one of the spacing lugs, and

Figure 5 is an elevational view of Figure 4, rotated 90, shown in vertical section.

Continuing with a more detailed description of the drawing, reference numeral Il! denotes complementary rod sections which are extruded from light material, such as aluminum or a suitable plastic to produce an elongated body of triangular forrn in transverse section. To lend strength to the sections, a longitudinal web Il is formed within the sections, dividing the interior into equi-lateral triangular voids.

The sections I0 are joined together at one end by means of a hinge l2 and the juxtapositioned ends of the sections are closed by means of plugs 2" I3, .to accommodate which, the webs Ily are ter; minated short ofthe endsV of the'sections to de'- fine a recess.. The plugs `l3'are provided -with flanges I4'. which areush with bifurcated ears'l i5, formed with angular anges i6, conforming to the angles of the triangular sections I0 to which they are aiiixed by riveting, welding or otherwise. When the sections ID are extended or disposed in axial alignment in the manner shown in Figure l, the ears I5 fall into alignment and the slots therein become flush.

Within the slot of one of the ears l5 is pivoted at a. a lever il, to Which is attached a handle I8 having a ball grip i9. Underlying the lever l1 is a coiled spring 20 which resists movement of the handle i8 towards the rod section to which it is attached. The opposite end of the lever I1 extends beyond the end of the rod section and a substantially semi-circular slot or recess 2l is made therein. Complementary to this recess is a pin 22 extending transversely across the slot of the ear l5 affixed to the companion rod section lil and, upon bringing the sections I0 into axial alignment, as shown in Figure 1, the cam surfaced end b of the lever H bears against the pin 22, elevating the end of the lever in order that the pin 22 may be received in the recess 2l in the lever to prevent relative movement of the sections Hl in either direction and to hold the sections in positive alignment. Thus, the rod sections are firmly held in extended or operative relationship. To release the sections so that they may be again folded, it is simply necessary to depress the handle i8 to elevate the lever l1.

When in folded position, it is desired that the sections be disposed in strict parallelism, to obviate strain on the hinge l2. To accomplish this a plug 23 is inserted into the free end of each of the sections il! and these plugs are each held in place by pins or bolts 24. Each plug 23 has a flanged end 25, one of which is recessed at 26 (Fig. 4) while the flange of the opposite plug is provided with a protuberance 21 which is conormably received in the said recess 26 to maintain relative spacing of the free ends of the sections equal to that at the hinged ends thereof, thus avoiding strain on the hinge I2.

It is pointed out that by producing the rod sections by extrusion the most diflicult rolling operation necessary to join the edges of a sheet of metal in tubular form is obviated. While the sections may be so produced, although at greater expense than the extrusion method, such a construction Would be impractical for a stadia rod due to the abuse to which they are-sometimes subjected, resulting frequently in irreparable damage because of the lack of adequate reinforcement.

The hollow extruded rod sections I D are protected against entry of foreign matter by the plugs I3 and 23 at each end and While the rod as a Whole may be slightly greater in Weight than ia rod constructed of wood, the latter lacks the v durability of the rod of extruded sections and hence must be repaired or replaced more frej quently.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable of some modication and such modication as may be construed to fall Within the scope and meaning of the appended claim is also considered to be within the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A stadia rod comprising sections connected together by a hinge at one end for foldability, one upon the other and held apart at their connected ends by the hinge, a pair of ears at the side opposite the hinge and attached exteriorly to each of said sections adjacent their hinged ends, a keeper in one of said pairs of ears; a lever actuated latch pivotally retained in the other of said pairs of ears and having a semi-circular slot therein' adapted to be engaged with opposite sides of the keeper When said sections are in axial alignment, a spring normally urging said latch toward engaged position, said sections being hollow; and plugs closing the adjacent ends of the sections.

ROBERT E. MCMACKIN.

HENRY P. BECKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Y UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,461,958 Arnold July 17, 1923 1,639,009 Singley Aug. 16, 1927 1,639,878 Bentrott Aug. 2 3, 1927 2,088,394 Wright July 27, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 21,887 Great Britain Oct. 18,1898 

